Ofloxacin resistance among Mycobacterium Tuberculosis isolates in two states of south-west Nigeria

The fluoroquinolones are an important class of antibiotics used in the management of bacterial diseases and drug-resistance tuberculosis (TB). Although resistance to fluoroquinolones has been described among common bacterial pathogens in Nigeria, little is known about resistance among TB patients. The study was embarked upon to determine the occurrence of fluoroquinolone resistance among TB patients in south-west Nigeria. This is a retrospective study of all patients from Oyo and Osun States who had their Drug Susceptibility Test (DST) results from the Institute of Tropical Medicine, Antwerp, Belgium between 2007 and 2009. The treatment cards of the patients were reviewed to extract the personal data of the patients and the DST results. The prevalence of ofloxacin resistance among 67 Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates of patients from Oyo and Osun states was 7.5%, which represented 4.3% among new patients and 9.1% among previously treated TB patients. Among the 34 multi-drug-resistant-TB patients, ofloxacin prevalence was 11.8%. There was no significant difference in resistance to ofloxacin between new and previously treated TB patients. The study described the occurrence of fluoroquinolone resistance in both new and previously treated TB patients. There is the need for healthcare workers to be aware of this and take precaution in adding a fluoroquinolone to patients who have been previously treated with first-line anti TB medications.